Mommy, Do You Hear That? Scary Reader's Theatre/Radio Play -Creative Writing

Mommy, Do You Hear That? Summary:

One evening, Ellen and her daughter Alice are returning home from their visit to Aunt Sally and Uncle Albert's house. On the way home, Alice hears sounds all around her in the dark. Ellen calms young Alice's mind by telling her their is a logical explanation for all the sounds she is hearing at that time of the night. The one sound that Ellen does not respond to is the sound of heavy footsteps. Alice continually asks who or what could be making them, while Ellen changes the subject. Are the heavy footsteps the product of a scared girl's imagination, or does Ellen know something that Alice does not?

Included in the Mommy, Do You Hear That? Unit:

12 spooky pages.

5 characters + the narrator.

1 creative writing question, asking the students to add a conclusion, using what they know from the story.

I have read this story with grades 4-12, and with my adult students, both remotely/online and in-class.

I have added a few spaces near the end of the story. You can decide if you want to read Ellen's reveal of what was following them in the forest that night, or you could stop the page at the blank space and ask the students what they think was following Ellen and Alice.

If you decide to read Ellen's reveal, the story will still ask the students to write a conclusion to the story because Alice has a reaction to Ellen's answer.

Do not fear the reader's theatre format. Students love these adapted stories because they are listening to the story and they are a part of the story by playing a character within the story. Reader's theatre inspires reluctant readers to join in the fun. The strongest and most advanced readers in your class will encourage other students to raise their hand and participate in the story. I also use reader's theatre to add to my drama marks.

If the reader's theatre format did not work for my students and I, then I would have stopped creating and adapting them years ago.

Reluctant readers sometimes feel anxious looking at pages of text, whereas a reader's theater script is broken up into narration and different characters speaking, thus making the story more accessible to those students who have not discovered the incredibly fun activity of reading.

I hope your class has a spooky time reading, Mommy, Do You Hear That?

Excelsior!

Mr. Marvel: The King of Reader's Theatre